


The Aftermath

by Scotty1609



Series: The Little Sister Edition [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Avengers Tower, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Little Sister Fic, Original Character(s), POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark's Little Sister fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 03:03:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17820593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: They fought the aliens, they conquered, they got schwarma, and now, their rag-tag little team was headed back towards Stark Tower- the only letter lighting up being the 'A', to which Tony made a joke about renaming it 'Avenger's Tower'.It was when they stepped foot into the tower, their feet barely beyond the doorway, that a woman- all dark hair, dark eyes, and fiery temper- stalked up to Tony and shoved him in the chest.Or else, Tony Stark's little sister finds out he almost died saving the world, tries to make breakfast for the Avengers, and has a heart-to-heart with Steve.





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> I know OC fics aren't usually LOVED, but I really have had this OC on my mind for a while now, and I couldn't sleep tonight, so... yea.  
> Welcome to the world Lily Stark, everybody!!  
> (Also, this fic is not edited. I literally wrote it at like 1 AM and then posted it.)
> 
> WARNINGS: mentions of past child abuse/neglect (aka Howard Stark's A+ Parenting)

They fought the aliens, they conquered, they got schwarma, and now, their rag-tag little team was headed back towards Stark Tower- the only letter lighting up being the 'A', to which Tony made a joke about renaming it 'Avenger's Tower'.

It was when they stepped foot into the tower, their feet barely beyond the doorway, that a woman- all dark hair, dark eyes, and fiery temper- stalked up to Tony and shoved him in the chest.

Everyone immediately raised their weapons at the woman, bracing for an attack, but Tony held up a hand to placate his team. The woman- young, they noticed, perhaps in her early twenties- shoved Tony again, making him take a step back.

“Hey, now,” Tony jested, “what did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?”

The young woman's dark brown eyes were full of angry tears, and she let out a half-sob, half-laugh. “That _fucking_ message, you _fucking_ idiot! You think I'd be okay with you sacrificing yourself like that?!” she blistered. “I swear to God, if Jarvis were here he'd tear you a new asshole!”

“No,” Tony corrected the girl, “Jarvis would swat me on the wrist while Mom cried in the background. Old Father-Dearest would rip me a new asshole.”

The girl let out another laughing sob, and just when Steve thought she was going to shove Tony again, she leaned into his chest and grabbed his shirt, crying into his shoulder. Tony seemed resigned at the touch, but Steve could see that glint in his eyes of relief- the same look Tony had when the Hulk woke him up on the street with a glass-shattering roar. Tony was relieved to be alive. And _Steve_ was relieved he was alive. So was this young woman, by her blatant display of affection.

“This a girlfriend we don't know about, Stark?” Clint teased childishly, and Steve was again surprised at how much the archer was able to open up to so easily after his brain-washing.

“Ah, yes,” Tony joked, “we all know how much of a lady-killer I am; I mean, look at her crying in the glow of my glory-”

The woman scoffed and smacked Tony's arm, wiping away her tears before settling her eyes on the team. “I suppose I owe you all a thanks,” she said, “for saving New York, I mean.”

“And the world,” Clint spoke, “but no thanks necessary.”

“And thank you,” the woman said again, wrapping an arm around Tony's shoulders, “for saving my asshole, self-sacrificing, lunatic _idiot_ of a brother.”

“ _Hey_!” Tony squawked indignantly while half of the team stared in shock.

“I didn't know Tony had a little sister,” Bruce said shyly from the back of the group. “It's nice to meet you...”

“Liliana,” the woman said, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Liliana Stark. But you can call me Lily. And as for the publicity thing, ah... I didn't have a _conventional_ conception.”

Whatever _that_ meant, Steve didn't know, but by the knowing look on Natasha's face, SHIELD did.

“Well, anyways, I'm exhausted. You know, saving the world all by myself and all, throwing a warhead into a magical space-portal thingie-magig. Time for bed.” Tony punctuated the statement with a yawn and a stretch. “You all are welcome to the twelfth floor- that's where all the guest bedrooms and beds are, along with a fully-stocked kitchen, living room, and entertainment room- not that the power's on it the Tower or anything. Gimme an hour to fix that.”

Steve nodded along with the others, still curious about this new young woman. How did the world not know about another Stark? And what did she mean by _unconventional conception_? But, after a large yawn hit him, Steve decided answers could wait until tomorrow.

It was Clint who chirped, “Well, goodnight everybody!” before veering off in the direction of the stairs. Steve sighed heavily. Twelfth floor with the power off? It was gonna be a trek...

“Well, get going, old man,” Tony teased as he turned on his heel and followed Clint towards the stairs, Lily following close behind.

Another heavy sigh lifted from Steve's lips, followed by a small smile. _Yea_ , he thought, _this team might be good for something yet._

 

…

 

Apparently, being a terrible cook ran in the Stark family, because when Steve got up the next morning and followed his nose to the kitchen, he saw Lily frantically trying to scoop up the remains of a burnt pancake from the floor with a spatula.

“Um... good morning?” he tried, cocking his head to the side at the sight of the young woman. Her hair was thrown in a messy bun, and she wore Iron Man-themed pajama pants with a shirt emblazoned with Einstein sticking his tongue out. Fuzzy socks adorned her feet, and Steve was almost jealous at how cozy she looked.

“OH!” Lily shouted, so startled that she threw the spatula- and pancake- so high into the air that it hit the ceiling, sticking there. Steve and Lily both looked up at the pancake, wondering if it would fall anytime soon. Just to be safe, Lily took a few steps away towards the stove, where she was managing to cook some soggy bacon.

“I tried,” she said sheepishly when Steve looked at the pan. “I'm not the best chef. Tones and I always relied on Jarvis, and when he passed away, we pretty much lived off take-out. Still do, actually...” Lily giggled to herself before turning the stove off and going to the nearest cabinet, pulling out a box of Froot Loops. “Hungry?”

Steve's stomach answered for him, and Lily laughed before pouring two bowls of cereal.

“I would have thought you'd be on Tony's floor,” Steve said when Lily and he had finally settled at the large dining room table.

“I was,” Lily said slowly, chewing over cereal and her words, “but I wanted to thank you all for protecting my brother,” she admitted with a blush. “I'm not too great with words, so I thought I'd try and use actions... but like I said...”

“Not the best chef,” Steve chuckled. “I can understand that. Bucky was always the one to cook for us when-” Steve cut himself off, shaking his head. “That was a long time ago.”

“...Before?” Lily asked in an innocent curiosity.

“Yea... yea, before.”

“Dad always spoke so highly of you,” she told Steve. “He practically beat into me and Tones that we needed to be the image of American perfection,” she joked. “Well, actually, he _did_ beat it into us, but- ah-” Lily blanched at Steve's pale face. “Sorry. Dark humor. My bad.”

“Howard...” Steve began slowly. “He never seemed like the kind to...”

“Well he was,” Lily snapped. “Sorry,” she immediately apologized, tugging on a loose strand of hair and biting her lower lip. “I just- Dad- we never... he and I never saw eye to eye. Me being artsy and all.”

“You're an artist?” Steve took the bait and tried to change the subject.

Lily's face lit up, and she began going off about her studies at NYU. An art major, she told Steve, illustration with a minor in creative writing. Steve was just into talking about how he would sketch while overseas back during the war when footsteps echoed across the flooring. Steve's head snapped towards the sound, and he saw a rather sleepy scientist meandering towards them. “Dr. Banner,” Steve greeted.

“Please, Captain, just call me Bruce. I think, after everything, we've come to that level of acquaintance.”

“Then call me Steve,” the soldier echoed the sentiment. Bruce nodded, yawning, and pulled out a chair before collapsing into it.

“Oh! Coffee,” Lily said as if the thought had just occurred to her. “Just gimme a- JARVIS? You there?”

“Of course, Miss Lily,” the AI responded to her. “How may I be of assistance?”

“Where's the coffee pot?”

“In the second cabinet to the left of the dishwasher, Miss Lily. Though I assume you could have come to that conclusion yourself.”

“Har-har. Remind me to tell Tony to lower your sass levels.”

“Of course, Miss Lily. I'll put it in your schedule for this evening.”

Lily rolled her eyes and set about making the coffee. By the time it was brewing, Thor, Natasha, and Clint had joined them. Clint was lazily putting his hearing aids in, flashing a few signs to Natasha as his order for breakfast.

Lily, seeing the signs, signed back to ask what cereal Clint wanted.

The archer immediately perked up, looking a bit bewildered at the woman. “You can sign?” he spoke and signed.

“Yea,” Lily responded in kind. “I needed a foreign language for school, and one of our maids growing up was deaf. She taught me and Tony both ASL.”

“ _Cool_ ,” Clint grinned from ear to ear. It was just then that Tony appeared in the elevator, and Clint shouted to him, “Stark! Your little sister is the _coolest_.”

Tony scoffed. “I take offense to that.”

“Nope!” Lily jeered. “Jury's out. I'm cooler than you. Suck it, big bro.”

Tony made grabby-hands towards the mug of coffee in Lily's hands, and she ducked out of the way to set it in front of Bruce. “Nah-ah! I'm sure you've already had five cups this morning.”

“Four. And that was at five AM. It's ten now.”

Steve's brows furrowed. “What were you doing up so early?”

“Couldn't sleep.” And there was something behind those words that seemed so familiar to Steve, sounding battle-worn in a way that he felt on a regular basis. “Was working on some prototypes for new Avengers-patented weaponry. Hey, Arrow-breath, how do you feel about taser arrows?”

And so the conversation carried on through their meal. Thor was engaging Lily in a rather exuberant story about Asgard and Mjolner, to which Lily was nodding along, thoroughly interested. Natasha and Bruce were mumbling together about something or other, and Clint and Tony were going off about new arrow prototypes. Steve was half-listening to everyone's conversations when Natasha suddenly spoke up.

“So, Lily...” she said. “SHIELD has been interested in your recent... work.”

Steve cocked an eyebrow. _Work? She's an art major. What would SHIELD want with-_

“Nnnnnope. Ah-ah. _Not_ happening,” Tony's voice was light, but had a protective edge to it that everyone at the table could catch. “SHIELD is not getting their sticky little fingers anywhere near my baby sister or her lovely brain, understood, Romanov?”

Natasha's eyes narrowed at Lily, who squirmed under the older woman's gaze. It wasn't until Clint nudged Natasha's arms with a soft, “Nat,” that the woman relented. “Fine. But we _will_ be talking later, Stark.” Whichever Stark she was talking to, she didn't elaborate.

“Okay, so,” Tony said, stretching his arms behind his head. “Clean-up detail. Let's begin.”

 

…

 

It was at least seven hours into their clean-up of one section of New York- Central Park had been hit the hardest, of course, so the team felt it necessary to start there- that Lily appeared, sporting a case full of cold water bottles for everybody. The clean-up crew Tony had hired had all been stand-offish all day, but instantly warmed up as Lily began to pass out bottles.

When the brunette had finally made her way over to Steve, the last bottle in her hand, she pegged it at the soldier's head. “Hey!” Steve exclaimed, catching the bottle on reflex. “What was that about?”

“Wanted to test your reaction time,” Lily said nonchalantly, grinning as she came to sit where Steve was crouched in the shade of a tree. “Good job, by the way.”

The two sat like that in silence for a few minutes before Lily looked up at the sky. “It's freaky,” she said quietly, so quiet that Steve almost didn't hear her. He glanced over at the woman, tilting his head to ask her to elaborate. “I mean...” Lilly began again, a bit louder. “I'm used to Tony almost dying. After Afghanistan, after the thing with Obadiah, after that Whiplash asshole... it's an old story by now. But every time...” her hand raised to her chest to clutch at her heart. “I feel it, right here. Every time, it feels like my heart is going to beat out of my chest, that I'm going to share his fate. That if he dies, I die.” She scoffed at herself, giving out a morbid laugh. “Some therapist might diagnose that as some kind of codependent disorder, but I just see it as the two of us being the last living Starks.”

Curiosity was killing him, so Steve finally voiced the question, “What did you mean by...?”

“My unconventional conception.” The woman more stated it than asked. “Yea. I just meant that I'm Dad's bastard. The one he regretted most out of me and Tones. He never wanted to be a dad, but then he had Tony. And then, just about a decade and a half later, his mistress died and left me to him.” Lily's smile was so pained that Steve regretted asking. “He wasn't... the best dad, but he was all I had. All _we_ had.” Her gaze met Steve's, and she glared at the man. “Don't you dare tell Tony I'm telling you all of this.”

Steve raised his hands up in defense. “I wouldn't tell a soul.” Not true. He'd tell Bucky, if Bucky were there...

“Good,” Lily said, not seeing through his lie. “Cuz he'd just pull back into his turtle shell and never leave his lab again.”

The two fell into silence once more. It was a beat or two before Steve offered forth, “I never really knew my dad. My mom, she was always taking care of me as a kid- I got sick real often- but then she passed away when I was a teenager.” Lily was watching Steve cautiously, curiously. “And then I moved in with Buck. He and I were thick as thieves forever. He took care of me, and I? I was just a burden to him. He didn't have to do it, but he did...”

“Sounds like a good brother,” Lily spoke softly.

“Yea. Yea, he was.”

“... I was only eight when Dad and Mom died,” Lily said. “Tony was always off partying away the pain, but whenever I needed him, he was there. He doesn't like to admit it, but he's a good brother, too.”

Steve had to smile at that. “Why is it that I find that particularly easy to believe?”

Lily giggled. “Because he's a terrible over-compensator when it comes to hiding his emotions?”

“Aren't we all though?”

Lily full-on laughed at that, standing up and brushing off grass from her jeans. “Well, as much as I've loved this chat about our painful childhoods, I'd best get back to Pepper. She's pretty frazzled right now, what with Tony almost dying and the world almost ending. And now, the day after, he has plans to rebuild the Tower? What an idiot.”

Steve chose not to comment on the idiot part, instead saying, “I can imagine Miss Potts is upset.”

“Oh, don't let her hear you call her that. She'll never admit it, but it makes her feel old.”

Steve chuckled, and Lily beamed. “See you later, Cap.”

“See you later, Lily.”

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo yea. Lemme know if you wanna see more of Liliana!! I love writing her, and I have plans for Winter Soldier and Civil War and beyond, so.... yea. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Also, this fic is not edited. I literally wrote it at like 1 AM and then posted it.)


End file.
